Aylesbury Magistrates Court to close next month

Cases will stop being heard at Aylesbury Magistrates Court next month.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed this week that the building will close in June, although a specific date has not been given.

The site will be retained by Aylesbury Crown Court.

The crown court will then use the building after ‘enabling works’ have been carried out.

News of the closure was announced in February this year, but at that time a date was not given.

There is ongoing concern that the move will spell trouble for some less-mobile defendants, who will now have to travel to either High Wycombe or Milton Keynes for their hearings.

People who would have previously appeared at the magistrates court will now have to travel to Milton Keynes or High Wycombe for their hearings.

An announcement at the time read: “Many respondents (to a public consultation on the closure) raised concerns around the increase in travel time and costs resulting from transferring the workload.

“Respondents to the consultation included local authorities and parish councils whose main remarks were about travel difficulties either for their clients or staff.

“HM Courts and Tribunal Service is committed to ensuring that it continues to provide court and tribunal users with effective access to justice while finding ways to do so in a way that reduces costs alongside its efforts to improve the efficiency of the justice system as a whole.

“It should be noted that Buckinghamshire already has a single bench of magistrates covering the whole of the county and there will be no requirement for changes to existing local justice areas.

“HM Courts & Tribunals Service acknowledge that some people will need to travel further to reach court. People infrequently need to attend court and of those, only a small proportion would use public transport to reach court.

“Almost all journeys to the proposed new locations can be undertaken in under an hour.”